England’s favorite season is on and the atmosphere is thick with anticipation and adrenaline. Yes, it’s the Premier League that we speak of and fans are pumped to support their teams. The only damper is the ticket price hikes by some of the participating clubs but even that is not enough to cool the ardor of true blue fans.

Every EPL season, 20 teams battle it out in 38 matches on home ground and away. 17 of the 20 teams are the top performers from the previous season of EPL and 3 teams are promoted by the English Football League Championship.

The 2018-2019 season marks the debut for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Cardiff City and Fulham who replace Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City.

Football fever experiences a spectacular hike in the months between August and May and, through TV, potentially reaches 4.7 billion people. In the 2014–15 season, the average Premier League match attendance exceeded 36,000. Most stadium occupancies are filled to near capacity.

EPL came into being in 1992, separating itself from the Football League First Division to benefit from a lucrative television rights deal.

Now, despite sharing £5billion TV rights package,9 teams out of 20 have chosen to increase ticket prices. Fortunately, 11 teams have frozen prices including Liverpool which has signed on 4 new players for the team.

Regular fans justifiably feel cheated by this price hike that has made them feel excluded. This holds especially true for fans in the low income bracket who are staunch fans of their chosen team.

The teams competing this season are:

Arsenal, Bournemouth, Brighton & Hove Albion, Burnley, Cardiff City, ChelseaLondon, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Huddersfield Town, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Watford, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Of these, fans of the Spurs, Fulham, West Ham, Wolves, Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Watford, Cardiff City and Man City teams will have to shell out extra cash if they want to continue to show their support to their favourite teams.

Arsenal still has the highest ticket prices at £891, despite freezing prices closely followed by Spurs at £795 relegating Chelsea to third place. The Spurs justify the price hike with extra amenities for its fans like uninterrupted views, comfortable modern seating, more leg-room, with spectators closer to the pitch than at any other comparable ground in the UK – as well as a significantly enhanced experience for every spectator on concourses. On the other hand, Liverpool has frozen their ticket prices despite making 4 expensive signings this year. Manchester City’s ticket prices are on the lower spectrum despite having topped the last season.

The Wolves who will make their debut this season at the EPL have raised their ticket prices from £125 to £509 – up 32.5 per cent.

Premier League’s most expensive kit belongs to Manchester United at nearly £193.

Despite the hike, fans will remain fans and will not want to miss out on supporting their favourite teams. Fortunately, direct lending companies like Cashfloat provide short term credits to people in the UK enabling them to keep up with the inflation. All is fair in love, war and football, right?